Early offense, late defense from Indiana freezes Muskegon

MUSKEGON,
Michigan (March 21st) – It wasn't meant to be tonight for
the Muskegon Lumberjacks as they not only saw their USHL and season-high
six-game winning streak come to an end, but they were also shutout for the
fourth time this season as the Indiana Ice used early offense to come away with
a 5-0 victory at the L.C. Walker Arena with former Lumberjack Hayden Stewart
(17-6-1) earning his fifth shutout of the season.

The Lumberjacks fall to 26-23-4 (56 points) on the season

The first 20 minutes belonged to the visiting Ice
(37-9-7, 81 points) as they notched a trio of goals to jump ahead by a 3-0
score going into the second period.
Beginning at the 2:14 mark, Jacob Pritchard potted a power play goal in
the low slot and wrapped it around the left pad of Eric Schierhorn (17-15-1)
for his 13th goal of the year that was set up by Scott Conway and Brian Pinho
to give the Ice an early 1-0 lead.

Just past the halfway point of the opening frame at
the 10:02 mark, Indiana doubled their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Conway as he
beat Schierhorn over the glove side from the left faceoff circle for his team-leading
26th goal of the season that was helped by Patrick Newell. As the period was about to expire at the
18:42 mark, the Ice would triple their lead courtesy of Dwyer Tschantz as he
slid one past the outstretched right pad of Schierhorn while parked in front
for his 21st of the season that was assisted by Newell and Conway.

Through the opening stanza, the Ice controlled the
pace of play while owning the shot battle by an 11-4 margin. Going into the second period, Schierhorn
would be relieved of his duties in favor of Jordan Uhelski after stopping 8 of
the 11 shots he faced during the first period.

Indiana continued to build on their lead in the
second period tallying two power play goals to take a 5-0 lead going into the
final 20 minutes.

At the 9:27 mark, Jason Salvaggio one-timed his 14th
goal of the season from the left faceoff circle past the blocker side of
Uhelski that was aided by Timothy Shoup and Ryan Mantha. Minutes later at the 12:41 mark, Newell
chipped one over the right pad of Uhelski while crashing the net for his 12th
marker of the year that was helped by Conway and Joshua Jacobs to cap off the
second period scoring for the visitors.

The shot battle through the first 40 minutes of play
were still heavily in favor of the Ice as they stretched it out to a 30-6
margin.

The third period featured no scoring as the
Lumberjacks (26-23-4, 56 points) were unable to get any of their 9 shots past
Stewart that proved to be more than enough once the final buzzer sounded. Indiana outshot Muskegon for the game by a
43-15 margin.

Hayden Stewart improved to 11-0-0 as a member of the
Ice stopping all 15 shots that he faced for the game, while Jordan Uhelski
stopped 30 of 32 shots in his two periods of relief work. Indiana's offense was spearheaded by Scott Conway
with a goal plus three assists along with Patrick Newell contributing with a
goal and two assists of his own.
Muskegon drops to 3-4-0 against Indiana this season with one regular
season meeting left in downtown Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon.

The Lumberjacks will be back at home tomorrow night for a 7:15 pm clash
against the USNTDP Under-17 Team. Following
tomorrow's game, Muskegon will travel to downtown Indianapolis, Indiana for a
clash against the Ice on Sunday at 3:05 pm to complete the three-game weekend.

Tomorrow's game will feature Beach Night along with the return of Subway
Saturday. If the Lumberjacks beat the
USNTDP Under-17 Team, every fan that is in attendance can redeem their ticket
stubs at any participating West Michigan Subway location for a buy one six-inch
sub and get another six-inch sub of equal or lesser value for free.

Individual game tickets will be on sale all next week for the low price of
$10 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-12 if they are purchased before the
day of the game for Muskegon's next pair of home contests on Friday, March 28th
and Saturday, March 29th against the Omaha Lancers and Lincoln Stars,
respectively. Tickets can be purchased at the L.C. Walker Arena Box
Office or by calling (231) 724-5225.

The Muskegon Lumberjacks are proud
members of the United States Hockey League, the nation's only Tier I junior
hockey league and the leading producer of NCAA players and National Hockey
League draft picks in the United States. The Lumberjacks' organization
prides itself on developing not just premier hockey talent, but also
exceptional young men outside the arena of sports. For more information,
visit www.muskegonlumberjacks.com.